For Her, With Her

In this episode of For Her, With Her, we’re joined by Buffy Kerekes and Ersi Scarman from The Zahra Foundation to shine a light on financial abuse. One of the most common yet least understood forms of domestic and family violence, Buffy and Ersi share common experiences they hear from the women they work with, exposing how financial abuse can trap survivors and continue long after a relationship ends. We discuss the systemic barriers victim-survivors face, the emotional toll of financial abuse, and how services like The Zahra Foundation’s free, trauma-informed financial counselling programs and Financial Empowerment Checklist can help women regain control and confidence.

In this episode of For Her, With Her, we are joined by Vanessa Burn, Head of the Migration Law Practice at Women’s Legal Centre ACT, to explore how domestic and family violence intersects with Australia’s migration system. Vanessa shares how women on temporary visas are particularly vulnerable to coercive control and manipulation, often fearing deportation or losing their children if they seek help. We unpack myths around migration, visas, and legal rights, including the misconception that you must be a citizen to access services like Women’s Legal Service Queensland or Australia’s network of Community Legal Centres. Vanessa also explains the critical importance of early legal advice, the expansion of family violence provisions across more visa types, and the urgent need for system reform, including a dedicated family violence visa pathway.

In this episode of For Her, With Her, we are joined by Penney Ferguson, CEO of the First Nations Women’s Legal Service Queensland (FNWLSQ), to discuss the unique challenges First Nations women face when experiencing domestic and family violence. Penney shares her own story and the experiences of her community, highlighting how systemic discrimination, racism, and geographical isolation can create additional barriers to safety and justice. We also discuss why First Nations women’s voices and leadership must become a central focus and why listening without judgment is one of the most powerful things we can do to create safer futures for all women.

In this episode of For Her, With Her, we explore the growing threat of technology-facilitated abuse with Dr Freya McLachlan, criminologist and research fellow at Griffith University. From stalking via smartphones to financial and image-based abuse, Dr McLachlan explains how technology is increasingly weaponised by perpetrators, and what victim-survivors, bystanders, and the tech industry can do to respond. This is an important conversation about safety in an ever-connected world and why recognising tech abuse as serious, dangerous and pervasive is key to preventing harm. 

In this episode of For Her, With Her, we’re joined by Inspector Mel Dwyer from the Queensland Police Service to unpack how the legal system responds to domestic and family violence. Inspector Dwyer shares how policing has evolved, what the new coercive control offence means, and why getting the right support, from both police and the community, is so important. It’s a conversation about listening, learning and making sure every woman feels seen, heard and protected. 

In our first ever episode of For Her, With Her, Vanessa Fowler OAM, Chair of the Allison Baden-Clay Foundation, joins us to discuss how domestic and family violence can present in both visible and hidden ways. Vanessa shares her family’s journey after the loss of her sister Allison, and how recognising early signs of abuse, especially coercive control, can make all the difference. This episode reminds us that domestic violence does not discriminate, and that community education, kindness and bystander action are key to creating safer futures.